Bass Strait Oil Company Limited has been given more time by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) to mature the prospect before drilling its operated Vic/P41 permit, located in the Gippsland Basin, offshore Australia.
The work program has been varied to delay the required drilling of an exploration well by one year, to November 28, 2017.
The previous work program had required the drilling of one exploration well by November 28, 2016. However, following approval from NOPTA, which Bass announced on Friday, the varied work program for Vic/P41 now requires one exploration well to be drilled in Year 5. This gives Bass Strait oil additional time to perform the technical work required to mature the prospect before the expected drilling and reduces Bass Strait’s near-term funding obligations, the company said.
The Bass technical review evaluated the gas play in the Emperor Formation in Vic/P68 and Vic/P41 for the first time and concluded that exciting new exploration opportunities exist. Bass notes that identified targets are similar in characteristic and on trend with the nearby Longtom Gas Field. In a best estimate scenario, Bass says that the gross unrisked (P50) Prospective Resource contained in the 5 largest leads total over 1.75 TCF of gas. The focus of the Bass technical team will now turn to identifying and evaluating the most appropriate drilling prospects in the Emperor Formation.
Bass Executive Director, Tino Guglielmo , said: “We are pleased that NOPTA has approved our application as this will not only provide us additional time to mature the prospects before drilling, but also reduce the Company’s near-term funding obligations.”
“We are confident that the new leads identified in the Bass technical review will enhance the value of the Company’s Gippsland Basin portfolio and attract interest from potential farminees wanting low risk and lower cost opportunities with direct access to the east coast gas market,” he added.
Vic/P41 Joint Venture consists of Bass Strait Oil Company Ltd with 64.565% as operator, Oil Basins Limited (17.935%), Shelf Oil Pty Ltd (17.5%).
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